On May 21, 2026, the new Directive (EU) came into force in the European Union. 2024/1233, which restructures the system of what is called single permit European.
Although little discussed outside of specialized circles, this is a potentially historic change for the economic and migratory future of the continent.
The new directive significantly facilitates the mobility of non-EU workers already residing in a European Union Member State, allowing them to transfer to another European country in a much less bureaucratic way, provided they have a job opportunity in the new destination country.
While this is not yet a full freedom of movement equivalent to that guaranteed to European citizens, the political direction of the European Union has become extremely clear: to increase the economic competitiveness of the bloc by attracting and facilitating the movement of skilled labor.
In other words: Europe has officially begun competing for workers..
And it is precisely at this point that an extremely serious structural problem arises for Italy.
Italy is aging rapidly.
While other European countries are seeking pragmatic ways to address the demographic crisis and labor shortage, Italy remains trapped in an increasingly ideological political debate disconnected from economic reality.
The figures released by ISTAT in 2026 are alarming.
According to provisional demographic data for the year 2025:
- Italy recorded only 355 births;
- There were approximately 652 deaths;
- The negative natural balance approached 300 people;
- The fertility rate has fallen to 1,14 children per woman;
- And the country continues to have one of the oldest populations on the planet.
This is the lowest number of births since Italian unification in 1861.
At the same time, the Italian population has been declining for over a decade. Since 2014, Italy has lost approximately 1,9 million inhabitants.
But perhaps the most worrying statistic is another: the growing exodus of Italians to other countries.
In 2024 alone, approximately 191 Italians left the country, an increase of over 20% compared to the previous year.
Among those who emigrate are precisely the youngest and most qualified professionals:
- engineers;
- programmers;
- health professionals;
- professional drivers;
- Logistics operators;
- industrial technicians;
- researchers;
- and skilled workers in general.
The call brain drain The Italian crisis is no longer an isolated phenomenon and has become a structural problem.
And now, with the new European Directive, the trend is that this exodus will also increase among non-EU workers currently living in Italy.
This is because many of these professionals remained practically tied for years to the first European country that granted them residency authorization. Even when they found better salaries or better living conditions in other European Union countries, immigration bureaucracy made this mobility extremely difficult.
From now on, this obstacle will gradually begin to disappear.
And the logical consequence is obvious:
The most skilled workers will migrate to countries that offer better wages, better public services, and a higher quality of life.
The Italian paradox
It is precisely in this extremely delicate context that the Italian government decided to promote one of the most controversial reforms in the recent history of Italian citizenship: the restriction of citizenship recognition. jure sanguinis.
With the so-called "Tajani Decree," later converted into Law 74/2025, millions of descendants of Italians scattered around the world began to be treated as if they had never had any legitimate connection with Italy.
For decades, however, Italian case law itself held a completely different view.
Citizenship jure sanguinis It has always been understood as a status acquired at birth, with judicial or administrative recognition being merely a declaration of a pre-existing legal condition.
Regardless of the ongoing legal and constitutional debate in Italian courts, the political and symbolic impact of the reform is already evident.
The message conveyed abroad was extremely negative:
"Italy no longer even wants its own descendants."
And this perhaps represents one of the biggest strategic mistakes made by the Italian state in recent decades.
Italy rightly rejected the immigration that was most compatible with its own historical identity.
For years, conservative Italian political sectors have advocated for the need for immigration that is "culturally integrated," "compatible with Italian values," and with greater historical and linguistic proximity.
But, paradoxically, when millions of descendants of Italians, especially in South America, sought to legally reconnect with Italy, they encountered increasing institutional hostility.
And herein lies perhaps the greatest contradiction in contemporary Italian immigration policy.
The descendants of Italians scattered around the world represent exactly the type of immigration that should theoretically be of interest to the Italian state:
- They have Italian family roots;
- They often preserve Italian cultural elements;
- They maintain emotional ties with the country;
- They value Italian culture, language, and traditions;
- They have a high potential for integration;
- And in many cases, they genuinely want to live, work, or invest in Italy.
In other words, this is probably the most easily assimilated form of immigration from a cultural, linguistic, and identity standpoint.
Nevertheless, the political discourse adopted in recent years has begun to treat these descendants almost as opportunists without any historical legitimacy.
While Italy closes its doors, Spain does the exact opposite.
The contrast with Spain is particularly revealing.
In recent years, Spain has recognized the citizenship of more than 2,4 million people of Spanish descent scattered around the world.
And what's most interesting is that this movement was treated by the Spanish authorities not as an administrative problem, but as a strategic policy of national strengthening.
There were no massive political speeches claiming that the descendants "were not truly Spanish".
There was no institutional narrative based on suspicion, rejection, or delegitimization of identity.
On the contrary:
Reconnecting with descendants was presented as an element of cultural, economic, and geopolitical expansion for Spain.
And the indirect economic effects of this are beginning to become noticeable.
Creating legal ties of nationality often also generates:
- economic ties;
- investments;
- tourism;
- cultural consumption;
- real estate interest;
- commercial relations;
- academic exchange;
- and skilled migration.
In other words:
When a country brings its descendants closer together, it expands its sphere of economic, cultural, and human influence.
Spain seems to have understood this.
Italy, unfortunately, seems to be heading in the opposite direction.
The economic risk that few are realizing.
There is one particularly worrying point in this whole scenario.
Italy is facing the following simultaneously:
- very low birth rate;
- accelerated aging;
- growing labor shortage;
- brain drain of qualified young people;
- stagnant productivity;
- salaries lower than those in several European countries;
- And now there is also greater competition for migration within the European Union itself.
No major modern economy can sustain this set of factors indefinitely without serious consequences.
Sooner or later, economic reality will demand its due.
The pension system will face increasing pressure.
The labor market will face a structural shortage of workers.
The social costs of aging will increase.
And Italian economic growth itself could enter a period of prolonged stagnation.
The irony is that, just when Europe is aggressively competing for workers, Italy has chosen to push away millions of people who had historical, cultural, and emotional ties to the country.
Historical error
The debate over Italian citizenship has long since ceased to be merely a legal discussion.
Today, it directly involves:
- demographic strategy;
- economic competitiveness;
- immigration policy;
- labor market;
- pension sustainability;
- geopolitical projection;
- and a vision for the future.
The central question is perhaps extremely simple:
How can a country that is losing population, aging rapidly, and suffering a constant exodus of qualified young people, at the same time, close its doors to millions of descendants who wish to get closer to it?
The response appears to be more political than rational.
But economic reality rarely heeds propaganda.
And perhaps, in the coming years, Italy will discover, in the hardest way possible, that identitarianism without economic pragmatism can turn into a historical mistake of enormous proportions.
Data used
- ISTAT, Demographic Indicators 2025;
- Official Italian migration data for 2024 and 2025;
- Directive (EU) 2024/1233 on the new European residence and work scheme;
- Recent European demographic statistics;
- Economic and migration reports from the European Union.
Public sources consulted
- European demographic reports for 2025 and 2026;
- ISTAT;
- Reuters;
- Financial Times.
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